Local Londoner sets up sickle-cell organisation

SICKLE CELL disease is also known as the silent killer, and a condition that kills globally. Yet Its often not talked about or placed at the bottom of the list despite the condition being a major health risk.

Currently 15000 individuals are affected by sickle cell disease in the UK, however 10000 of those individuals directly reside in London. Which highlights the specific issues of living in the city and suffering from the condition.

To help curb these statistics, Kehinde Salami has launched Sicklekan, an organisation to help spread awareness for the condition while also providing a platform from the perspective of sickle cell patients rather than the view of health care professionals.

Salami has experienced living with sickle cell, and between October 2015 and January 2016, he had four very serious crisis episodes which led him to being admitted into hospital.

As a result he co-created Sicklekan, and focuses on trying to address the grey areas surrounding Sickle cell, while making sure patients don't feel neglected.

According to the organisation, there solutions include:

Promote awareness of Sickle Cell from the ‘Patients’ perspective
Raise awareness within those communities at risk of Sickle Cell
Educate Schools, health based and other professionals on what Sickle Cell is, the impact on individuals, families and communities and their role in supporting patients
Provide a platform for Sickle Cell sufferers to have a ‘voice’
Run Local blood screening and donation drives to increase the number of blood donors to be available for people in need of transfusions
Create Workshops/Community events to better support families that have been impacted by the condition

With celebrity supporters including Kojo and Ashley Walters, Sicklekan is the organisation continuing to bring awareness to the disease amongst bme communities.